A great future

Foresight Filmfestival N° 3

Ready for the future, the third Foresight Filmfestival took place in Halle (Saale) on October 26th, 2017, for the first time in collaboration with the Werkleitz Festival Nicht mehr, noch nicht.
Thank you for joining us on our science meets vision-mission and for heading together into a promising future, where it’s all about different disciplines, exchanging knowledge and teamwork.
The competing contributions that were judged before a large audience and our jury on the festival evening, could not have been more novel: They were about the future, about breath-taking, technological advances and societal changes, as well as the resulting interactions, chances, and risks.

Authors of the 14 films being shown at Foresight Filmfestival originate from different backgrounds: researchers, journalists, film makers, project developers, artists, philosophers and all those who do not want to leave the future to chance.
They met where science and society intersect, extrapolating the possibilities of tomorrow from the feasibilities of today: How do we want to live live? How will we live?

Discussion Topics

2017

Where and how will we live in the future? In megacities with skyscrapers, stretched for miles? On the flat countryside in self-supporting communities? In small towns digitally connected to the whole world?

Foresight

Science-Vision-Festival

The first Foresight Filmfestival was developed by the Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg (Prof. Dr. Wehrspohn) and science2public, association for science communication. It was launched in 2015 and followed by a second cinematic discovery journey in 2016. Both expeditions (festival editions) were sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The topics for the cinematic debate emerged from the Foresight-Process initiated by the BMBF.

The Foresight-Process is a strategic tool for the prediction of future developments. In its latest Foresight discussion, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) examined the potential for scientific and technological development over the next ten to fifteen years from two sides: the technological possibilities (“technology push”) on the one hand and the needs of society (“demand pull”) on the other hand.
Foresight serves in particular as a contemporary instrument of dialogue because, after all, nobody can predict the future.
In light of the nature of exponentially growing technological development (keywords: digital revolution, second modernity, industry 4.0) and its impacts on all areas of life, it is becoming clear that many questions still remain unanswered and that it requires the continual understanding of society to know where all of this should lead. It is not enough for science and society to brainstorm together, it is imperative that they communicate. This is the purpose of Foresight Filmfestival.

The Festival in 2017: This year’s look into the future wouldn‘t be possible without the support of our new partner – the association Saxony-Anhalt-Media, the Art Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt and Kloster Bergesche Foundation – and it stimulated two new competition categories. Regarding the first contest, we were looking into the vastness of technological, social and also intellectual innovation to start our call for entries.

„Foresight update“ encouraged researchers, scientists, filmmakers and media artists to submit their own interdisciplinary future visions. The theme of our second category is “City, Countryside, Interspace” and linked to questions arising from challenges and potentials of future urban and rural life.

NOTES ON THE COMMON EXPEDITION “FORESIGHT FILMFESTIVAL N ° 3”

As already mentioned, our theme “science meets visions” – designed as a beneficial interdisciplinary cooperation – is the heart of all Foresight Filmfestival editions. We are approaching this cooperation from two perspectives:

A: Scientists, engineers, and project developers can take the opportunity to advertise their work and let us know what they are enthusiastic about and how they are thinking into the future.

However, this is an interdisciplinary approach and exchange in collaboration with film and media makers or artists. It is essential to expand the project from the perspective of societal interest and knowledge combined with aesthetics, narrative forms, etc.

B: Right here, creative minds will be able to expand their own vision, how technological or societal development will influence our daily life in about ten to twenty years. Support and consultancy from scientists or researchers are more than welcome.

For both sectors: The future visions needed to be realized and presented in a short film format with a minimum of 30 seconds and a maximum of 15 minutes.